


blue balloon

by laurenkmyers



Series: Ballum drabbles or codas [7]
Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Cute Kids, Family, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:22:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28904085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenkmyers/pseuds/laurenkmyers
Summary: A glimpse at Callum and Lexi's evening of blowing up balloons.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Series: Ballum drabbles or codas [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833373
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	blue balloon

**Author's Note:**

> Coda/scene we were robbed of from tonight's episode (21/01/21)

“Caaaaaaaaaaaal! No more green ones, I only want blue and pink from now on, okay?” Lexi wails, demanding, and ever the princess she was brought up to be. She throws Callum a blue balloon with a defiant look on her face. It makes Callum smile at the likeness; _she really is Ben’s daughter_.

Callum smirks around the end of his green balloon and stops mid-puff, releases it from his grip, and watches it zoom dramatically around the room as its air is released. Lexi screams in excitement, running after it with her hands in the air. Callum delights at her, smiling to himself as he puts the blue balloon to his lips, happy to follow her orders. Whatever Lexi wants, Lexi gets.

Once he’s done he reaches for another blue balloon, noticing that Lexi likes to blow up the pink ones herself.

“Okay, so we’re going with pink and blue then?” He asks, looking over at the sassy blonde girl for confirmation as she nods her head enthusiastically. “Can I ask why those colours?”

Lexi huffs as if she’s annoyed, but really she just likes being the centre of attention. She stands up and walks over to Callum with her hands on her hips.

“Pink is _my_ favourite colour obviously, and Gramps likes it too even though he pretends he doesn’t.” She says tapping him on the nose to emphasise her point, scolding him as if he were Phil Mitchell pretending he doesn’t like the colour pink. “And blue is daddy’s favourite, coz they match your eyes.”

Callum’s heart skips a beat at the easy slip of innocence in her confession.

“What was that, sweetie?” He asks, desperate for her to repeat her sentence.

“That’s what daddy told me. His favourite colour used to be pink like me, but now its blue coz he said it reminds him of your eyes. I told him he was being silly, but-” She taps Callum’s chin up so that he’s now looking directly at her, “-you do have really pretty eyes, Cal. Daddy was right.” She continues babbling on about the colours she likes and what they remind her of, but Callum isn’t exactly listening anymore, busy in a world of his own, head spinning with love for the man he gets to call _his_ , the man who’s given him so much in terms of confidence, strength, love, and now a family to call his own. He can’t help the goofy grin that appears on his face at the thought, nor can he help the tears that well up in his eyes, overwhelmed with emotion.

Oddly, Lexi notices his slip right away and runs over to him.

“Don’t cry, Cal. Daddy loves you and that’s why you’re his favourite.” She wipes away one of the tears that have slipped past his defences.

Callum shakes his head. “Don’t worry- they’re not sad tears, darlin’. They’re happy ones. Promise.” He says, pulling her in for a hug, in which she gladly falls into, brushing a soothing hand on the back of his head. When they pull back Callum places his hands on her shoulders and says clearly, “And I’m not your dad’s favourite, silly. _You_ are. No one will ever beat Princess Lexi, will they?” He wink-blinks at her, before softly poking her in the ribs. She giggles heartily and plonks herself in his lap, reserved and still all of a sudden.

“Are you going to stay with us forever, Cal?” She says quietly, the words implying something a little deeper than a simple childhood slip.

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.” He tells her truthfully, tugging her closer. “Love you and your dad too much, don’t I? Wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else.”

As the two share their gentle moment together neither of them notices the sound of the door, or the soft footsteps as Ben approaches, standing quietly behind them having caught the last part of their conversation. He looks on at the two most important people in his life and smiles fondly at the scene in front of him, wipes the tear from his eye, and thinks: _I can’t wait to marry that man._

**Author's Note:**

> come and fangirl with me on tumblr: laurenkmyers


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